


Interlude

by anthean



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: Thrawn Series - Timothy Zahn (2017)
Genre: Ar'alani has exactly zero bullshit tolerance, F/F, Oral Sex, Plot What Plot/Porn Without Plot, Strap-Ons
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-20
Updated: 2019-08-20
Packaged: 2020-09-19 04:27:31
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,285
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20325082
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anthean/pseuds/anthean
Summary: "Commodore Faro," Ar'alani said, "I have little interest in human social games, and I will be leaving this ship soon, so I may be blunter than is considered polite.”--100% pure whole-grain smut for your Tuesday.





	Interlude

Out in space, the two formerly-conjoined Grysk ships floated serenely, waiting for the _ Steadfast _ to collect them for analysis. Inside, the tension that had suffused the bridge of the _ Chimaera _during the operation had dissipated. Officers that had sat still and focused at their stations now moved more freely, and the buzz of low conversation rose from the crew pits.

“I estimate three hours for the _ Steadfast _to collect a Grysk ship and make the rendezvous,” Ar’alani informed Thrawn.

She made sure no sign of it appeared in her voice, but Ar’alani hoped she might use some of those three hours to sit down. The excitement of battle could only keep her on her feet for so long, and the long hours of planning, organizing, and waiting had wearied her.

Thrawn inclined his head. “Very good,” he said. “Faro, Hammerly, Pyrondi, Marcs, Calago,” he called, raising his voice. “Put your seconds on call, and return to the bridge in two and one half hours.”

There was a slight increase in activity as the senior officers began closing down their stations and contacting their second-shift officers.

Faro herself looked at Thrawn in surprise. “I’m fine, sir,” she protested.

“Nevertheless,” Thrawn replied. “The coming battle will be testing. I need you to be rested and ready for its demands.”

She looked as though she would like to protest further, but did not. “Yes, sir,” she said. She turned to make her way back down the command walkway, and with the motion caught Ar’alani’s eye.

Faro’s mouth twitched up in a smile, and then heat suffused her face and she calmed her expression, as though the smile had been unintended. Ar’alani let her face soften experimentally, and Faro’s expression lightened again. She brushed past Ar’alani as she headed to the turbolift.

Perhaps an accidental touch. Perhaps not. But it sparked a thought in Ar’alani, and she very much wanted to follow that thought to its conclusion.

“I must contact Grand Admiral Savit and the _ Firedrake_,” Thrawn said. “I will find an office for your use, if you like. Or one of my officers can show you to the cantina if you are hungry, or anywhere else you’d like to go.”

“That won’t be necessary,” Ar’alani replied.

Thrawn nodded and walked off to his ready room, leaving Ar’alani to contemplate the expanse outside the viewports: the blackness of space littered with sharply glittering stars, the faint flicker of debris catching the light and throwing it back.

She stood at the viewport for long minutes, then turned and walked briskly down the command walkway.

“Where are Commodore Faro’s quarters?” she asked the guard stationed at the entrance of the bridge.

If the question was unusual, there was no hint of it in the answering voice. “Take the turbolift two levels down, turn right, and it’s at the end of the corridor. Her name is on the door. If you wait a moment, Admiral, I can call someone up to escort you.”

“Unnecessary,” Ar’alani said, and set off.

It took only a few minutes before Ar’alani reached Faro’s accommodations--sensible, to quarter command staff close to the bridge. She pressed the button beside the door, requesting entry, and waited.

“It’s open!” Faro called through the door.

Ar’alani entered. “Thank you, Commodore,” she said.

“Admiral!” Faro exclaimed, sitting up. She had been lying on a low couch, her boots, cap, and uniform tunic cast aside, reading from a datapad held above her face. She wore a tight gray tank top tucked into her uniform trousers, and her hair had been loosened from the bun she wore on the bridge.

“I didn’t expect you,” Faro continued after a pause, setting the datapad aside and standing. “Did Admiral Thrawn send you? Or did you need something? I would have waited on the bridge, if I’d known.”

“He did not,” Ar’alani said.

Now that Faro was standing, Ar’alani had a much better view of her breasts, confined and flattened by her tank top and undergarments but still promisingly lush. The sight set the beginnings of arousal simmering, and she hoped that she was not wrong about Faro’s potential interest. “No, I came on my own errand. Commodore Faro, I have little interest in human social games, and I will be leaving this ship soon, so I may be blunter than is considered polite.”

“Okay,” Faro said. She smiled a little at some private joke. “Blunt is fine.”

“Good,” Ar’alani said. “Would you like to have sex with me?”

The faint flush of blood roared back to Faro’s face, forming spots of heat on her cheeks that glowed in the infrared. “I-uh, wow,” she said. “You weren’t joking.” She sat down on the couch again and gestured Ar’alani to sit beside her.

That boded well.

“Was I too direct?” Ar’alani asked. She did not especially care about the answer, would not remain on the ship long enough for human social mores to become necessary information.

Or at least, she did not care about human conventions in general. She cared very much indeed, she found, about how Faro might react.

“It’s okay, I was just surprised,” Faro said. She dragged her gaze across Ar’alani’s body for a long moment, before seeming to realize she was staring and jerking her eyes back to Ar’alani’s face.

“You can look,” Ar’alani said, turning to face Faro more fully.

Faro shivered a little, and her hands tightened in her lap. “I’d really like to,” she confessed in a rush. “But, uh, it’s pretty inappropriate in the Empire. For commodores to have sex with admirals, I mean.”

“Our cultures are different, then,” Ar’alani said. “I assure you that Mitth’raw’nuruodo will not care, should we become intimate. Nor will my treatment of you change, regardless of your answer. And news of what may pass between us will not reach your Empire from me.”

Faro’s body language was beginning to soften, her eyes brightening and her mouth opening slightly. Ar’alani reached out, drew a finger up Faro’s arm to her shoulder, feeling the soft skin shudder under her touch.

It seemed that human symptoms of sexual arousal were similar to Chiss.

“What the hell. Yeah, okay,” Faro breathed. Then her eyes cleared and her face firmed, and she smiled. “Yes, Admiral Ar’alani, I would like to have sex with you.”

“Excellent,” Ar’alani said. She brushed her hand across Faro’s collarbone, then cupped her breast, rubbing her thumb across where she guessed the nipple would be. It was a good guess: Faro inhaled sharply and reached up to tangle her fingers in Ar’alani’s hair.

“Good?” Ar’alani asked. The encounter had barely begun and she was already shivering with arousal, resisting the urge to press her head into Faro’s hands, twine their bodies together and rut until they reached completion. It had been too long, clearly.

“I’ve done this before, you know,” Faro said. She fell back against the arm of the couch, pulling Ar’alani on top of her and dragging her head down. Ar’alani licked the swell of her breasts, kissed and bit and let Faro’s hands in her hair direct her, until the cool skin was hot with the marks of her mouth.

Her hands had wandered while she had been distracted, untucking Faro’s tank top from her trousers, and now she pushed the garment up as far as it would go and dragged her hands across Faro’s stomach and ribs. Faro’s hands were busy in her hair, undoing the tie that held it back from her face and combing through the whole unbound length of it, a soothing touch that blended with her growing arousal to send bursts of energy coursing through her body.

“Up here,” Faro demanded, tugging on Ar’alani’s hair.

Ar’alani complied, and Faro pulled her down and kissed her with a gratifying lack of hesitation.

Ar’alani shifted to cover her body more fully, settling between Faro’s open legs and caressing her neck with the hand that wasn’t still busy at Faro’s breast. Faro broke the kiss and moved to Ar’alani’s throat, the underside of her chin: gentle kisses and bites that would leave no marks when they were through.

Appropriate, but Ar’alani preferred a firmer touch. She bent her head and bit hard at the meat of Faro’s shoulder, then laved the bite with her tongue as Faro’s body jerked and a cry of surprise and pleasure escaped her mouth. Ar’alani swallowed that cry in another kiss, deep and wet and long. She held the kiss until Faro was squirming below her, hands wandering over Ar’alani’s body as she tried to undo Ar’alani’s uniform, and until Ar’alani herself was shaking with frustration at not having those hands on her skin.

Finally Faro tore her mouth away and took several gulping breaths. “There’s a bed in the other room,” she finally managed. “And I don’t even know how to start getting your uniform off.”

“Easily remedied,” Ar’alani said. She stood up--hard, so hard to tear herself away from that warm body, those fascinating curves--and let Faro lead her to the sleeping chamber.

The chamber was small, the bed narrow and bolted to the wall, but certainly large enough for their purposes. Faro was already removing her tank top; Ar’alani helped pull it off over her head, then stepped in close and kissed the side of her neck, circling her arms around Faro’s waist, digging in her fingers to feel the muscle.

Faro let out a shaky sigh. “Your uniform, please,” she said.

Ar’alani smiled. It was indeed long past time.

She pushed Faro to the bed--eliciting an oddly charming yelp of surprise--and began undoing the clasps and buckles that held her uniform together. Faro stared, mouth halfway open, as Ar’alani removed her tunic and stripped off her undershirt, then shook herself and began taking off her own remaining clothes. It was a process Ar’alani usually enjoyed directing, watching her partner reveal their body on her orders, but today their time was limited.

And besides, she wanted Faro’s strange human skin on her own as soon as possible. From the way Faro hurried to get her clothes out of the way, she wanted the same thing.

She pushed Faro back into the bed when they finally both were naked, reveling in the warmth of her skin, the soft press of her breasts against Ar’alani’s own, the way Faro didn’t bother with shyness but instead ran her hands shamelessly over Ar’alani’s body, exploring by touch.

They kissed. Their legs tangled together and Faro pushed her hips up to meet Ar’alani’s, seeking friction, seeking heat. Faro’s breath came fast, and Ar’alani was distantly aware of matching her, of her own lungs struggling for air against a cloud of desperate arousal. It didn’t matter, nothing mattered, nothing except the growing heat between her legs and Faro’s hands tight on her hips.

Faro pushed at her shoulder and Ar’alani broke the kiss reluctantly.

“Can I look at you, ma’am?” Faro asked. Her eyes were bright and her mouth hot.

“Of course,” Ar’alani replied, sitting back. Spending their time kissing and touching was wonderful, but now that Faro had brought it up she realized that she, too, was curious to examine the alien body of her partner.

Faro’s skin was pale, with reddish undertones that were more prominent where the skin was thinner, and on her lips and nipples. There were small brown dots scattered across her body, more frequent on her face and forearms, where the skin was also a few shades darker: the effects of sun, perhaps. Ar’alani touched Faro’s small cheekbones, her smooth forehead, then stroked her breasts as she had done before, this time enjoying how they felt with no fabric covering them. There were faint blue veins under the skin and silvery marks on the sides, presumably from growth; Ar’alani drew her fingers across them, then circled the nipples with her thumb and smiled again at Faro’s indrawn breath.

She looked up to find that Faro was studying her just as intently. She stretched a little--vain, perhaps, but it hardly mattered--and Faro fell on her, mouth finding the pulse in her neck and hands caressing her biceps before pulling her close.

“What do you want?” Faro breathed. She took Ar’alani’s earlobe between her teeth and tugged. “Anything. Tell me.”

What Ar’alani wanted was for this entire idiotic entanglement--the Empire, the Grysk, Mitth’raw’nuruodo’s plotting--to be resolved to her satisfaction so she could spend a few days fucking Faro until they both couldn’t see straight.

They did not live in that universe, however, and in this one there was really only one answer Ar’alani wanted to give.

“Your mouth,” she said.

“Mm, yes,” Faro said with a grin. She kissed Ar’alani, her tongue a deliciously promising warm slide, and bore her down to the bed.

Ar’alani spread her legs pointedly, but Faro took her time. She smoothed her hands down Ar’alani’s torso, stopping to play with her nipples and drop teasing kisses across her hips. After each kiss she looked up at Ar’alani through the messy fall of her hair, smiling faintly, as though wondering when Ar’alani would lose patience and shove her head down where it belonged.

“In your own time, Commodore,” Ar’alani said dryly when the light brush of Faro’s lips had gone from titillating to infuriating. Faro’s eyes flashed and she laughed out loud, then ducked her head and licked a broad stripe along Ar’alani’s cunt.

Her mouth was hot! Ar’alani’s hands clenched in the sheets and she gasped in surprise. She had noted Faro’s higher body temperature, had enjoyed the flaring heat of her mouth when they kissed, but had not considered the effect of that heat on more intimate parts of her.

She dug her heels into the bed, lifting her hips and grinding into Faro’s face. Faro gave a muffled grunt of surprise and pushed her back down.

Faro lifted her head. “I guess that’s good?” she asked. Her lips were shiny and wet, evidence of Ar’alani’s arousal, and the sight went straight to Ar’alani’s cunt and set it aching.

“Very good,” she managed after a moment; her breath had caught and she hadn’t even noticed.

“Glad to hear it,” Faro said, a little smug. She traced Ar’alani’s _ tir _ with a finger, then bent her head and gave it a delicate kiss when Ar’alani gasped and pushed into her mouth. “What’s this?”

“I don’t know the Sy Bisti word,” Ar’alani said. “We call it _ tir_.” She lifted her head--no easy task when Faro was still moving her finger like _ that_\--and looked down her body. “I assume-ah!-I assume humans have an analogous structure?”

“Yeah, it’s just shaped a little different,” Faro said. “Seems like it works the same, though,” she continued, and bent her head back down to work.

Her mouth was so warm, her tongue so eager; Ar’alani fell back to the bed and moaned as Faro sucked and licked at her cunt. One hand clenched in the sheets, and the other found its way to Faro’s hair.

A new sensation intruded: Faro’s finger parting her folds, poised at her entrance.

She dragged herself back to reality and tapped at Faro’s face, and Faro paused, looking up inquisitively.

“I dislike penetration,” Ar’alani said, her voice hoarse. “Continue as you were.”

Faro nodded and removed her finger, instead wrapping her hands around Ar’alani’s thighs and pulling herself even closer. 

Good, good, so good, each skilled pass of Faro’s tongue sending new bolts of pleasure shooting up Ar’alani’s spine. The effort of not clamping her legs around Faro’s shoulders, not grabbing her head and grinding it down hard against her, was almost overwhelming; her legs twitched and spasmed, rucking up the sheets. Distantly, she was aware of little moans building at the back of her throat, of slick, wet, noises where Faro’s mouth met her cunt. The sounds aroused her further, until her whole body was a wave, poised to break.

A few more rasping breaths, the slick glide of Faro’s tongue, and Ar’alani was coming, her body tensing hard and then going slack as the long Chiss orgasm flared in her cunt and spread up her body, setting sparks of pleasure crackling and bursting until she was hardly aware of where she was.

When she came back to herself, Faro was lying propped on an elbow next to her, a small smile on her face.

“That looked fun,” Faro said, her smile growing. She reached out a hand and smoothed down Ar’alani’s hair, traced her forehead and cheekbones.

Ar’alani pulled Faro atop her. “It was,” she said.

Faro’s body quivered with arousal, and her breath caught at every small movement of Ar’alani’s hands. Ar’alani lifted a knee and pressed her thigh between Faro’s legs, feeling the wet heat of Faro’s cunt as she ground down. The movement pushed Faro forward and brought her breasts within reach of Ar’alani’s mouth; she strained upwards and caught a nipple, swirling her tongue around it. She teased the other nipple with her fingers, pinching lightly, and Faro began to pant.

“Would you like to come like this?” Ar’alani murmured.

Faro’s arms, planted on either side of Ar’alani’s head, were beginning to shake. She rolled her hips against Ar’alani’s thigh for a moment, seemingly unable to answer as her panting grew heavier.

“Do you dislike penetration in general, or only, uh, receiving?” Faro finally asked. The spots of heat bloomed again on her cheeks, and she seemed, for the first time, to be embarrassed. “Because I’d really like you to fuck me.”

Something warm kindled in Ar’alani’s chest. She pulled Faro down against her and kissed her jaw, and Faro squirmed delightedly.

“Is that a yes?” Faro asked.

“Yes,” Ar’alani assured her. “Do you have a--” something else she’d never needed the Sy Bisti word for “--a prosthetic?”

“I do,” Faro said. She rolled off Ar’alani and began rummaging in a cabinet beside the bed, finally pulling out a harness of black straps and a bright purple phallus covered with gentle ridges.

“Yeah, I know,” Faro said, correctly interpreting the look on Ar’alani’s face. “But the other colors were worse, and it feels _ really _good.”

She handed the equipment to Ar’alani, who stood up to pull on the harness and tighten the straps--easily adjusted; she approved--then tucked the prosthetic into the pocket in front so that it jutted out before her.

When she looked up, Faro was lying on the bed, her eyes playing over Ar’alani’s body. Her mouth hung open slightly and her chest rose and fell as her breath caught and released. A few strands of hair had fallen into her face, but she hadn’t seemed to notice, was focused entirely on Ar’alani--as she should be.

Ar’alani brushed Faro’s hair out of her face, a frisson of deep satisfaction running through her as Faro closed her eyes and leaned into her hand. She stroked Faro’s lower lip with her thumb. Faro spread her legs unconsciously, giving Ar’alani a glimpse of her cunt, flush with heat and already so, so, wet.

“Hands and knees,” Ar’alani said. It came out almost as a question, and she shook herself internally. Too tender, too tender for who they were, what they were to each other.

But Faro was already scrambling to turn over, to position herself at the edge of the bed right where Ar’alani could fuck her most easily.

“Absolutely,” Faro said. Her voice was clear and eager, and it steadied Ar’alani.

She ran her hands down Faro’s spine, curling her fingers around her ribs and fitting her thumbs into the dimples right above her hips. Faro pushed back so that her cunt brushed against the prosthetic. Ar’alani teased her with it, drawing the tip up and down, rubbing against the structure that seemed to be the human equivalent of the _ tir_. Faro’s hips began rocking gently, seeking sensation, and her breath began to be audible in the quiet room.

“In your own time,” Faro finally mumbled.

Ar’alani laughed aloud. “Impatient,” she said.

“I have _ been patient_,” Faro retorted. “And I think you promised to fuck me at some point.”

“Indeed,” Ar’alani said, laughing again. She parted Faro’s folds with her fingers and guided the tip of the prosthetic inside. It slid in smoothly, easier than she had expected--but then, Faro’s cunt was dripping wet, her muscles relaxed, her legs flexing as she pushed back against Ar’alani and took the length of the prosthetic within her.

“Gods, yeah,” Faro murmured. Ar’alani thrust in again, starting a slow rhythm, and Faro shivered. “A little faster?”

Ar’alani sped her thrusts, gripping Faro’s hips to steady herself. The prosthetic rubbed against her _ tir_\--not enough to make her come again, but enough to lend a pleasant heat to her movements. Better, though, was Faro’s body clenching under her hands and against her hips: she was not content to kneel there and get fucked, which Ar’alani appreciated. Instead, she drove her hips back to meet Ar’alani’s coming forward, fucking herself on the prosthetic as though too eager to wait. Beads of sweat soaked the fine hairs at the back of her neck, and her shoulders flexed as she struggled to hold herself upright on the soft mattress.

Finally the strain became too much, and Faro collapsed down onto her elbows, pressing her face into the blankets and letting out a muffled gasp at every thrust. The new angle let Ar’alani lean over and fuck her harder, her fingers leaving bright white marks where they gripped her hips. Faro clenched one hand in the sheets and snaked the other between her legs, where she could rub her _ tir _aginst it, and that was all it took before she was coming, her body shaking with a sudden burst of pleasure.

“A little more,” Faro gasped, continuing to rub her _ tir _frantically; Ar’alani kept thrusting, and a moment later Faro came again with a helpless moan.

Faro collapsed fully to the bed, then rolled over onto her back and began to giggle. By the time Ar’alani had removed the harness and set it aside, Faro was laughing outright. Her eyes were screwed shut, tears leaking from the corners; she threw one arm over her face and rested the other weakly on her stomach as she continued to laugh.

Ar’alani sat down beside her. “Are you all right?” she asked when the laughter had subsided a bit.

The question set Faro off again. “I’m _ great_,” she said between heaves of laughter. “Seriously, I just- this happens after I come. It’s nothing to worry about.” Her hands twitched, like she wanted to reach out.

Ar’alani lay down, pulling Faro closer to rest her head on Ar’alani’s shoulder. Her fingers brushed against Faro’s ribs, and Faro giggled faintly.

“What will you do when this engagement is over?” Ar’alani asked.

Faro tensed beside her, and Ar’alani felt a moment’s disquiet. The question had been simmering at the back of her mind, but this had not, perhaps, been the moment to ask it.

Ar’alani had never had much use for this quiet time after sex, preferring to move on with her work quickly. For the first time, she wondered if she had missed something.

“What I’m ordered to do, of course,” Faro said.

The answer was a good one, and nothing more than Ar’alani had expected. But a thread of darkness had entered Faro’s voice, hinting perhaps at some dissatisfaction.

“And what will that be?” Ar’alani prompted.

Faro was silent for a long time. “I don’t mean to criticize,” she finally began.

“I am not your commanding officer, nor even a member of your military,” Ar’alani said.

“True,” Faro said. She turned her head and kissed Ar’alani’s breast, just above the nipple. Her mouth was oddly hesitant. “It’s probably nothing. I thought I was being reassigned and given my own command, but the orders haven’t come through yet. So maybe…”

“Maybe Mitth’raw’nuruodo is displeased with you?” Ar’alani finished.

Faro shrugged awkwardly. “Like I said, it’s probably nothing.”

Ar’alani rolled her eyes internally. If Mitth’raw’nuruodo was truly displeased with Faro, Ar’alani would give up and turn her ship over to the Grysk. Mitth’raw’nuruodo was a stellar tutor--Faro’s command prowess and Eli’van’to’s sharp intelligence were proof enough of that--but for him to let Faro harbor such a gross misapprehension was an absurd misstep.

“Ask him,” she said.

Faro shifted uncomfortably. “I don’t want to-”

“Ask him,” Ar’alani repeated firmly. “Wait until after the battle if you must, but ask him.”

“Okay, okay,” Faro said. She didn’t sound entirely convinced, but perhaps time would make up her mind for her.

“Anyway,” Faro continued. “I still want my own command, but I’m glad I got to meet you before maybe leaving the _ Chimaera_.” She rolled atop Ar’alani and kissed her.

Ar’alani kissed back. “The universe is vast,” she said when the kiss broke, “but not that vast. Our paths may yet cross again.” The words were a sop, said more for comfort than because she believed them, and she wondered why the thought of Faro’s presence should be comforting to her at all.

Faro’s face tightened, and Ar’alani regretted softening the truth; Faro deserved better.

But then Faro’s face lifted again, as though she had put it behind her, or at least decided to ignore it. “Sure,” she said. She shifted to straddle Ar’alani’s hips and dropped her hands to Ar’alani’s breasts, stroking her thumbs across the nipples. “But in the meantime, we have-” she glanced at the chrono on the bedside cabinet “-ooh, a whole ninety minutes until I’m due back on the bridge.”

She reached behind her and picked up the discarded harness, brandishing it playfully at Ar’alani.

“Feel like another round?”

**Author's Note:**

> whoops, some feelings snuck in at the end there :D


End file.
